page_title: Casey Mears
section_title: NASCAR
hierarchical_section_title: Casey Mears / NASCAR
caption_attribution_description: Shot by The Daredevil at Daytona during Speedweeks 2008Casey Mears Kellogg&#39;s Chevy Impala
context_page_description: Casey James Mears is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the Stadium Super Trucks and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Germain Racing. A former winner of the Coca-Cola 600, Mears is the nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears and the son of IndyCar and off-road veteran Roger Mears. He also works as a NASCAR analyst for Fox Sports 1.
context_section_description: Mears made his NASCAR debut in the Busch Series in 2001 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving the No.66 car for Cicci-Welliver Racing. He started 21st and finished 28th. When the team was sold to Wayne Jesel the next season, Mears drove for them full-time, finishing 21st in points with two Top 10 finishes. To the surprise of many, he was selected by Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the No. 41 Target-sponsored Dodge in 2003. In his rookie season, he finished 35th after failing to finish in the Top 10 in any race. Throughout 2003, Mears drove a number of ARCA races for Ganassi, winning three times, once at Michigan, and sweeping both Pocono races. He drove the No. 41 Cup car for two additional seasons, and won two poles in 2004.
  Mears came close to quite a lot of victories during this period. He led late in the 2004 Sirius at the Glen but got passed with 12 laps to go and finished fourth. At Homestead in 2005, Mears controlled the final 100 laps of the Ford 400, but after a yellow flag (with 19 laps to go) erased his 28-second lead, Mears had to make a pit stop thus forfeiting the lead and with it, the win.
  During the 2005 season, it was announced Mears would move to a separate car for Ganassi with Home123 sponsorship, with the No. 41 to be piloted by Reed Sorenson. The Home123 sponsorship fell through and he instead moved to the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline-sponsored Dodge for Ganassi, replacing the departing Jamie McMurray.
  Mears started off 2006 with a then-best career finish of second, passing Ryan Newman at the line as Mears' future teammate Jimmie Johnson won the 2006 Daytona 500.
  On June 6, 2006, Mears announced that he was leaving Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the season to join Hendrick Motorsports for the 2007 season, to replace the departing Brian Vickers. On July 8, 2006, he finally won his first NASCAR race, a Busch Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, coasting to the finish after running out of fuel.
  For the 2007 season, Mears assumed driving duties for the No. 25 Hendrick Chevrolet, with co-primary sponsorships from the National Guard of the United States and GMAC. On May 27, 2007, he won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, his first (and only to date) career Nextel Cup victory. Once again, Mears secured the win with a fuel gamble, taking the lead with five laps remaining when most of the other lead lap cars stopped for fuel. Mears stretched his fuel to the finish, running out moments after the checkered flag.
  In 2008, Mears moved to the Alan Gustafson-led No. 5 Kellogg's/Carquest-sponsored Chevrolet Impala formerly driven by Kyle Busch. After going winless, Mears was released by Hendrick and replaced by veteran Mark Martin.
  On August 23, 2008, Mears was announced as the driver of Richard Childress Racing's No. 07 Jack Daniel's-sponsored Chevrolet Impala SS. The previous driver of the car, Clint Bowyer, would drive the team's new No. 33 General Mills-sponsored Chevrolet Impala SS. In his first season at RCR, Mears notched two Top 10 finishes. After Mears struggled during the first seven races of the year, Richard Childress switched the crew chiefs for Harvick and Mears' cars, hoping for a better performance from the two drivers. The switch seemed to work for both parties.
  On October 21, 2009, it was announced Mears would be getting his third crew chief of the season starting at Talladega. Todd Berrier would be moving to the No. 31 team in place of Scott Miller. Doug Randolph took over as the crew chief on the No. 07. This move was made primarily because the future of the 07 was uncertain and Childress wanted to keep Berrier in the family. After the switch, Mears struggled with his new crew chief and had the best finish of 19th at Homestead. Mears was released by Richard Childress Racing following the 2009 season.
  It was announced on January 20, 2010, that Mears would drive the No. 90 Key Motorsports Chevrolet. Mears failed to qualify for the 2010 Daytona 500, ending a starting streak of 252 consecutive races; this was Mears' first DNQ of his career. Mears also failed to qualify for Fontana, Las Vegas, and Atlanta. Afte
caption: Mears' 2008 Cup car
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